The judge in a Columbus lawyer’s sexual-assault trial has denied his attorneys’ motion for a
mistrial.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David W. Fais ruled this afternoon that the trial would
continue after hearing the defense team’s request before lunch.

The request by attorneys Frederick Benton and Jennifer Coriell came after a woman testified
for about an hour this morning about her relationship with Javier Armengau, claiming that she was
coerced into performing oral sex on him more than 50 times over a period of about 10 years.

In requesting the mistrial, Benton said the indictment against Armengau alleges only two
incidents involving the woman. Her claims of so many other incidents were both nonspecific and
highly prejudicial, jeopardizing Armengau’s right to a fair trial, Benton told Fais.

Prosecutors with the state attorney general’s office, who are trying the case after Franklin
County prosecutors begged off to avoid the appearance of conflict, said defense attorneys knew
about the woman’s allegations beforehand and that her testimony highlighted Armengau’s “scheme” to
take advantage of her.

The charges relate to allegations by five women — a former employee, former clients and the
mothers of former clients — associated with his work as a criminal defense attorney.

Jurors already had heard this week from Catherine Collins, who testified that he grabbed her
breasts and exposed his penis to her during a meeting about her son’s case at his Brewery District
office on April 4, 2013.

The Dispatch does not identify victims of sexual assault unless the victim agrees. Collins
told her story to the newspaper last year and was willing to be identified.

The woman who testified this morning is a 38-year-old mother of four who said she is bipolar
and admitted to a criminal record for offenses that include theft and disorderly conduct.

She said she first met Armengau in the late 1990s in Marion, Ohio, where he also practices
law. She said she eventually was hired to do errands for him around the office and that his demands
for oral sex began soon after she started.

The trial had been scheduled to continue this morning with testimony from another accuser,
but prosecutors changed direction when that woman called in sick.